Pamela Kempton

Pamela joined Geology as Head of Department in the autumn of 2013. She comes to K-State from the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council, the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. National Science Foundation, where she served as Head of Research and Director of Science. Pamela holds a doctorate in igneous petrology and a master's degree in sedimentology from Southern Methodist University. Personal research interests to date have focused on the petrology and geochemistry of oceanic basalts and gabbros, lower crustal granulites, ultramafic peridotites and continental volcanism, with a specific focus on problems of mantle geodynamics, petrogenesis of basaltic magmas, and the evolution of the lower crust and upper mantle. Pamela is also interested in pursuing new research problems in Earth’s Critical Zone, such as quantifying processes that control bedrock breakdown and rates of soil formation, how these processes vary with landscape type, tectonic setting and / or climate.